Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Here's another HeroClix minifigure I pulled in the booster box I picked up recently: Thrillkiller Batgirl! While I've owned the DC Direct Thrillkiller Batgirl for years I've actually never read the story. It's one of the few of the more well known Elseworlds titles I haven't read; it always seemed to be a bit tougher to find. It's coming back in print later this year and I already have a copy preordered and ready for me, so I'm looking forward to it. Now onto this figure! I was pretty excited to pull this from the HeroClix booster pack I purchased because I love Batgirl, I love the colors of this outfit, and I love minifigures. Let's take a closer look at her after the break...

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Getting
to do these "Top 10" lists is one of my favorite things to do on this
site. This is the sixth year I've created a list (the earlier ones were
originally at The Epic Review) and the effort I put into it seems to increase a little bit each year. It's
always fun (and sometimes mildly alarming) to look back at all of the
cool stuff I've picked up over the past year and decide what are my
favorites. That's a key word here, by the way: "Favorite." I
will readily admit that my list is not a best of list but a list of my
favorites. One of my favorite end of the year awards events has been
Michael Crawford's Poppies over at MWCToys.com as it's more of an
Academy Award styled event with multiple judges from different areas
voting on the best. Last year I was finally able to serve as a judge for
the first time and it has absolutely been a dream come true. When I
help nominate and vote in those awards, I try to be as objective as I
possibly can. Over here, though, well these are my picks and they're
based on criteria that I alone set. Let's get this show rolling after the break....

Saturday, January 27, 2018

I'm not a HeroClix player but I'm always interested in cool minifigures and while hanging out in my local comic shop on Tuesday night I ended up grabbing a booster pack from the latest HeroClix series: Harley Quinn and the Gotham Girls. Each set has five figures inside and the first one I'm checking out his the completely generic Asylum Doctor. HeroClix, like many other miniature games, adds in these generic "army builder" characters as common figures so that you can create small squads if needed for your scenario. The Asylum Doctor is one of the nameless mental health professionals employed by Arkham Asylum and makes for an interesting choice for an army builder. She's actually a paint variant of the Dr. Harleen Quinzel figure from this same series, so that probably explains why she was made. Let's take a closer look at her after the break...

Thursday, January 25, 2018

Today's review of the Mezco One:12 Collective Deathstroke is the last 2017 action figure review I'll be doing before I release my annual Top 10 awards. It's probably no secret that Mezco's One:12 Collective will be appearing on my list this year as it has been a great year for them. While Mezco has had a number of product delays, they've also released a ton of product. For a line with figures running around $80 dollars a pop Mezco has released more than enough action figures to satisfy all but the most compulsive collectors. I think if they communicated their release schedule changes a little but more the delays wouldn't seem problematic at all. At the end of the year Mezco released a ton of product for the line and Deathstroke was the last 2017 figure to be released. A number of e-tailers seemed to initially get smaller shipments than expected causing Deathstroke's price to store. After a few weeks my pre-order from Big Bad Toy Store came in (which has been made back in 2016!) and Deathstroke showed up to my house this past Wednesday. Deathstroke always seems to translate well into action figure form and Mezco's take on Slade Wilson is another exceptional toy of the character. Let's take a closer look at this awesome 1/12th scale Deathstroke after the break...

While I was at the Shelby Comic Con in Shelby, NC this past weekend I found a vendor selling some pretty cool DC stuff. I purchased three items, one of which is the subject of today's review: Red Arrow from Mattel's 6 inch scaled Young Justice line. I know Young Justice is getting ready to make a comeback but I have to admit (with some embarrassment) that I have yet to watch it. That doesn't mean I'm not a fan of most of the characters, though, especially Red Arrow. Red Arrow, AKA Arsenal, AKA Speedy, AKA Roy Harper has definitely become one of my favorite superheroes over the past few years thanks to his excellent role in the New 52's Red Hood and the Outlaws and in the Rebirth book Titans. While he mostly goes by Arsenal now (currently Emiko Queen, Ollie's half sister, is using the Red Arrow name), this figure still is a pretty good representation of Roy Harper. Let's check it out after the break...

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

One of my favorite action figure review sites for well over a decade has been Michael Crawford's MWCtoys.com. Michael Crawford, AKA Captain Toy, AKA The Godfather of Online Toy Reviewing, has been releasing best of the year lists since the year 2000. I'm one of the judges for the 2017 Poppies (last year was my first year and it has been one of my dreams ever since the awards started in 2007!) but anyone can vote in the People's Picks. Just head on over and pick the toys you think were some of the best in 2017. Vote for your favorite or one you think is objectively the best; it's your call!

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

On Saturday I attended a small, local comic book convention (the Shelby Comic Con in Shelby, NC) and picked up some pretty cool stuff. One of the items I grabbed was this Lego styled Michael Myers. Over the past few years pretty much every convention I've been to has had at least one dealer selling Lego/ Lego styled minifigures. While some of the figures seem to be regular Lego releases, others are more unique and offer custom characters Lego has not offered. Looking online, I've seen lots of listings for this figure by a company or distributor called Kopf so I have no idea if this is a bootleg, a custom, or just a Lego styled figure. I'm not much of a Lego collector these days so I'm not an expert on the subject. I'm definitely a Halloween fan, though, and the lure of a little Lego styled Michael Myers for $4 bucks was too much. Let's check out this spooky little guy after the break...

Sunday, January 21, 2018

I've got two more reviews to finish before I announce my Best of Picks from 2017, and both of them are One:12 Collective releases: Deathstroke and Superman. I reviewed the Red Son variant of Superman last week but today I'm reviewing the classic Superman. Classic Superman was released near the end of the year (maybe November?) but I just picked mine up a few weeks ago. There were a lot of One:12 Collective releases during the end of 2017 and I had to space out purchasing them a bit. I definitely think it's safe to say that Superman has been one of the most luke-warmly received figures in this line yet. While most figures have been pretty universally loved, collector reactions to Superman seemed to have been quite mixed. Superman definitely has some flaws. He also, however, has some of the coolest features I've seen in this line. Let's take a closer look at Mezco's take on the Man of Steel after the break...

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Yesterday I reviewed Pack A of Super7's The Worst M.U.S.C.L.E. minifigures and today I'm checking out Pack B which might be my favorite of the two. Pack B includes two of my favorite characters from The Worst, Robot Reaper and Gas Phantom, as well as the very cool Batula. Unlike most minifigures and pretty much any M.U.S.C.L.E. that has come before them, The Worst are unique in that they actually have removable accessories. So far these have been released in four different colors (green, blue, orange, and purple) and it's the purple color scheme I'm reviewing today. Originally released as exclusives at DesignerCon in November, I had to pay a bit more than the original price for these but they're totally worth it. Let's check out this cool set of minifigures after the break...

Friday, January 19, 2018

As I'm wrapping up the last of my 2017 items I'm pretty excited to show off one of the best batches of M.U.S.C.L.E. figures Super7 released in 2017: The Worst! The Worst is Super7's own in house creation and it turned out to be a perfect fit with the crazy, over the top aesthetic of M.U.S.C.L.E. Super7 released these this past summer in a few different color schemes. They quickly became pretty tough to come by and I'm glad to have found someone selling this lovely purple set. I pad a bit more than retail but man, these are worth it! They're incredible. Let's check out Pack A starring Black Falcon, Snake Tut, and X-2-The Unknown after the break...

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Mezco's One:12 Collective line definitely seemed to have hit the big time in 2017. Around early Spring of 2017 Mezco started rolling out some of the year's biggest hits like Daredevil, Green Arrow, The Punisher, The Joker, and The Flash. From there things just took off and it continues to be a wild ride. While Mezco has had some delays, one of the kind of frustrating/ kind of awesome things that happens in the One:12 Collective line is that a bunch of figures seem to come out around the same time. Superman: Red Son is one of those figures that I received around the same time as a few others. Based on Mark Millar's 2003 Elsweorlds story about Kal-El landing in Ukraine rather than Kansas, this is a very interesting choice for a Superman variant. Red Son Superman is a Previews Exclusive meaning that he is still available through most E-tailers. Let's take a closer look at this communist version of the Man of Steel after the break...

Monday, January 15, 2018

At the end of January I'll be releasing my annual "best of the previous year" lists so over the next week or two I'll be catching up on a few more items that either came out near the end of the year or that I wanted to make sure I reviewed before making my final decisions. You better believe that Mezco's One:12 Collective line is going to be a major player in my 2017 favorites and I'm getting ready to review a few of them in a row. First up is the Suicide Squad version of Harley Quinn. Harley is an interesting figure for One:12 Collective for a few reasons. Number one, she is the first female character that Mezco has tackled in this line. That means a completely new body with no reuse fro previous figures. Secondly, Harley has a fairly unique costume. While most figures have traditional superhero outfits, jumpsuits, or outfits with the pants and shirt stitched together, Harley has multiple individual articles of clothing. While it may not seem like it at first glance her outfit is actually really quite complex. Third, this version of Harley Quinn is a character that multiple high end companies have already released, so there are going to be more comparisons made than on a standard One:12 Collective figure. Harley doesn't seem to be as in demand as some other figures (it's really tough to tell which One:12 Collective figures are going to be almost impossible to get a hold of immediately and which ones will linger and drop in price a bit) as I picked her up around a month after her initial debut at slightly lower price. I will go ahead and say that Harley is one of the figure I'm the most
conflicted about in this line. The figure has a lot of issues but
there's also plenty of really cool aspects to it, too. In the same
figure you can see the merits of cloth outfits and removable accessories
alongside some of the problems that still come up when working with
them in this scale. Let's check her out after the break...

Sunday, January 14, 2018

This is the last item from my Christmas 2017 haul and it was a big surprise. I took some vacation time from work and when I got back to my office I found this on my desk as a gift from a friend and cowoker. Pretty cool! While BB-9E didn't have a bunch of screen time in The Last Jedi I definitely found the droid's presence memorable. BB-9E definitely had more screen time than the mouse droid or the Death Star Droid and everyone still goes nuts over those droids, am I right? Plus, he kind of played a crucial role in the plot by exposing Finn, Rose, DJ, and BB-8 when they sneaked on board the Supremacy. It appears that early on there were plans to call this little guy BB-H8, so essentially BB-Hate. Kind of silly but kind of funny, too. Anyways, BB-9E is going to be the last 2017 POP! vinyl I review before my best of 2017 awards so let's get to it! More rolling goodness after the break...

Saturday, January 13, 2018

Want to hear something funny? My daughter and I both received this Wonder Woman in our stockings! If you can please a grizzled 34 year old DC fan and toy collector and a 4 year old child, I think you're doing something right and, believe me, I think Jada Toys is doing something right with the Nano metalfigs line, particularly the DC and Marvel lines. Those lines always seem to move in stores. I love these little die-cast metal figures and this classic/ Rebirth looking version of Diana is pretty slick. Let's check her out after the break...

Thursday, January 11, 2018

My Christmas haul is winding down and this time I'm showing off another stocking stuffer I received: A Resistance BB Unit from Funko's Star Wars Mystery Minis. The Mystery Minis are little blind boxed minifigures with bobbling heads to presumably get around a licensing restriction that Hasbro has in place. While they are available everywhere Wal-Mart has exclusive case packs that include three additional figures in the series from The Last Jedi: A Praetorian Guard with a whip sword, Kylo Ren, and the Resistance BB Unit that I'm reviewing today. His rarity is 1/12, meaning that he's included in one out of twelve boxes. That's pretty average (only Captain Phasma and BB-8 can be found more frequently) as there are some figures that are pretty rare and come packed 1 in every 72 cases. I do pick up a lot of Funko stuff but crazy chase figures are a prime reason I don't collect any of their lines seriously. This little guy may have only appeared in the film briefly but he does get a mention in the visual dictionary for the film. I think this is supposed to be the droid the book refers to as 2BB-2. Let's call him 2BB-2, shall we? I like that a bit better. More on 2BB-2 after the break...

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Today I'm checking out one more thing that was left under my Christmas tree this year: The Toys 'R Us exclusive Parademon from the DC Comics Multiverse line. Based on the Parademons appearing in Justice League this figure gives you someone for your Multiverse Justice League to fight. Pretty cool, huh? First appearing in Jack Kirby's The New Gods #1 back in 1971, these monstrous minions of Apokolips have been a mainstay in the DC Universe ever since. I love the two Parademons I have from Mattel's DC Universe Classics line but I was looking forward to the release of this one, too. Unfortunately, he's kind of a disappointment like most of the Justice League toyline. Let's take a look at the Parademon after the break...

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Today I'm looking at the last DC Icons figure I'm going to be reviewing from 2017 (unless I pick up some of the others down the line): Nightwing. Inspired by the now classic Batman tale Hush, DC Collectibles has delivered about as iconic of a Nightwing figure as you could expect. Yeah, it's not his original look but odds are that if you think of Dick Grayson these days this is how you immediately picture him. We've received this version of Nightwing many times over the years so it's not the figure we most needed to see in Icons but it is still cool to have a very highly articulated version of him. Let's take a look at this very cool Dick Grayson in a box that I received as a Christmas gift this year. More after the break...

Sunday, January 7, 2018

One of my favorite toylines of 2017 is the Nano Metalfigs from Jada Toys, specifically the DC Comics figures. There is just something about these little die-cast metal heroes and villains that I love. To be absolutely honest, I'm almost as excited to see what Jada announces new for this line at Toy Fair 2018 as I am to see what Hasbro, Mattel, Kotobukiya, DC Collectibles, and Mezco announce for a few of my favorite lines. The Nano Metalfigs line covers a few different properties (DC Comics, Marvel, Disney/Pixar, WWE, and Harry Potter) but today I'm looking at a very cool light up display case that is designed to work with any of them. I first learned of this case around November and decided that it would make a nice addition to my Christmas list. I love minifigure displays and this seems like a great way to show off more of these well made little metal superheroes. Let's take a closer look at this cool Nano Scene Light-Up Collectible Case after the break...

Saturday, January 6, 2018

This year in my stocking I found a very cool little gift: The DC Nano Metalfigs Katana from Jada Toys! Based on her appearance in Suicide Squad Katana is sporting her Katana and her sleek black outfit. 2017 was a great year for Katana themed merchandise and this little minifigure is just the icing on the cake. I'm a big fan of this line and I'm eager to see if Jada announces more new figures at Toy Fair. Everywhere I go the DC and Marvel Metalfigs seem to sell through like hotcakes so there is clearly an audience for these little heroes and villains. Let's check out this little metal version of Tatsu Yamashiro after the break...

Friday, January 5, 2018

On episode #81 of the Confirmed Epic Podcast The Reel Brad Bell, AKA Andrew Stokes, and Kate Mcall are back to start 2018 the same way they ended 2017, with another Top 10 countdown. This time by counting down their Top 10 most anticipated films of Winter & Spring 2018. As always we get into the epic news items of the week, as well as what we have been checking out.

Let us know what you thought about the podcast in the comments below or follow and tweet us @thereelbradbell

Another figure I got for Christmas was this very cool Jareth the Goblin King from McFarlane Toys. Wait... McFarlane Toys? McFarlane as in Todd McFarlane? The Spawn company? Yes. McFarlane Toys. I know I've reviewed a few of the Walking Dead building sets that I found on clearance for various 31 Days of Toy Terror countdowns but the last new McFarlane Toys figure I picked up was Cortana in 2014. Prior to that? Who knows? Maybe one of the Infernal Parade figures? A later release from the Movie Maniacs line? Anyways, Jared is technically part of McFarlane's Color Tops range of products which simply seem to be the overall identifier McFarlane is using for their 7 inch scaled releases but the packaging proudly bills this as a Labyrinth release. Being a fan of both David Bowie and Labyrinth (as are my wife and my 4 year old) I knew this would end up in my collection sooner rather than later. It's really cool to see McFarlane back to doing random movie characters in this scale, so let's get cracking on this review of Jareth the Goblin King...

Thursday, January 4, 2018

We're now in 2018 and it's time for me to do two things before I start doling out my best of 2017 listsin late January: Pick up the last few items I want from 2017 and check out all of the cool stuff I received for Christmas! I received some great stuff for Christmas this year and today I'm starting out with one of the just so-so items: The Toys R Us exclusive shirtless Aquaman from Mattel's DC Comics Multiverse line. Based on the Justice League film, Mattel released a shirtless version of Jason Momoa's Aquaman quietly at the end of the year. While the BvS version of Aquaman was also not wearing a shirt, the main Justice League version of Arthur is wearing a full outfit and thus hides his really cool tattoos, so I can understand why Mattel wanted to get this guy out there. Doesn't mean I wouldn't have rather had Lois Lane, Antiope, bald Lex Luthor, Commissioner Gordon, Alfred, or even Deathstroke in his place, though. Let's check this guy out after the break...

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Just before the end of the 2017 Kotobukiya released another entry in their long running DC Comics Bishoujo line: Katana! It's almost been a year since their last release, Wonder Girl, so I was really looking forward to this one. Not only do I love Katana but I just love this line in general. Each release is consistently of a very high quality and the more of these statues you add to your display, the better they look. Katana has exploded in popularity over the past couple of years thanks to her increased presence in the comics, her role in Suicide Squad, and being part of the DC Super Hero Girls. Let's check out this cool modern statue of Katana after the break...

Monday, January 1, 2018

At this point, unless I manage to pick up some stragglers I missed out on from the King Shark series or the Super Friends Superman and Aquaman, this review is probably the last DC Comics Multiverse review from 2017 (I'll review 2017 releases and consider them eligible for my end of the year awards until the end of January). There have been some rumors that the Clayface series is supposed to start arriving at stores today but I consider that very unlikely. While I'll talk more about the year for Mattel's DC Comics Multiverse line as a whole later on, one of the things that strikes me as odd is that at this point I do not own what is clearly the best Collect & Connect figure of the year: King Shark. I grabbed the Bat figures from the series as fast as I could and then never grabbed anyone else. Well, I never found anyone else except the TV Hawkman. I'd love to own him but he's kind of pricey on his own. Maybe shelves will be cleared after the holidays and we'll see more of the King Shark series make their way to mass market retail. Today, though, I'm reviewing Doctor Psycho, the C&C figure from the most recent series of releases. He's a smaller figure and you only need to purchase two figures to build him: Wonder Girl and the misnamed "Dark Knight Returns" Wonder Woman. Let's check out this classic Wonder Woman villain, shall we? More after the break...